Worst Crush in the World
by light.after.ashes
Summary: Post-Season 2. The Alpha pack kidnap Boyd and hold him in Beacon Hills First National Bank. Erica gets away, but she's badly beaten. It's up to Stiles and Scott to save her. Old memories bring up new feelings.
1. Chapter 1

I actually wrote this for the fanfiction contest that Teen Wolf had.I didn't get picked, but oh well.  
Reviews and such would be appreciated.  
Enjoy!

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Breath heavy. Body weak. Fear stricken that what she had done was the wrong way to go. Erica had stumbled far and alone in Beacon Hills preserve, not too long after being attacked by savage Alphas. Oddly enough, they were an actual pack. Experienced and all too powerful for the recently released Betas as they sprinted through the woods the night the Kanima had finally lost. Gerard had kept Erica and Boyd tied up in the Argent basement before Chris had set them free. He went by the code that, unfortunately, most of his family seemed to have forgotten when dealing with werewolves.

Erica had collapsed into a stream with a small splash. The former epileptic had been beaten and bloodied by the Alpha Pack and set free while her pack mate was held captive to lure Derek into joining them; which is why they had let the flawless blonde go to carry that message to her creator. She panted heavily, crying out in pain and despair. Derek had yet to teach her how to shift at will or to howl for him to come to her aid. Sadly, she couldn't. She was far too weakened as she lay in the water, the cold temperature of the stream numbing her wounds and taking some of the pain away. But the young werewolf was freezing and even worse, she was wet from the stream. With a grunt, she managed to move herself out of the water. Erica shook violently from the cold as if she were heading back to her former human self and having a seizure. Her werewolf body slowly healed and she hadn't the slightest idea why when everything else had healed so quickly. Was it the Alphas? Was it something about them that made her heal more slowly than she's supposed to?

The girl felt consciousness slowly fading and decided that she needed to muster up whatever strength she had left in her body to cry out for help. The scream echoed through the trees and out of the forest, catching the keen and not so keen hearing senses of Scott and I practicing lacrosse. "What the holy hell was that?" I asked Scott who was in the goal. "Sounded like Erica…." Our gazes met and we knew she was in some kind of trouble. I ran for my jeep while Scott darted into the preserve, most likely wolfed out so he could run faster. A sigh of jealously had escaped my throat as I climbed into my jeep and peeled off the field, heading onto the nearest road leading into the preserve. My thoughts were jumbled and I fought to organize them in my head. Curse my ADHD! "What's going on now?! Of all times…. God, can we never catch a freakin' break?!" I groaned as I sped up ahead to the end of the road, drifting to a stop. "Guess I'm going in." I sighed; killing the engine and shoving my keys into my pockets before jogging into the woods.

My ears caught Scott calling out Erica's name, meaning we were close by since I didn't have super enhanced hearing like he did. My jog broke into a straight up sprint as I thought I saw Erica's body lying beside a stream. "ERICA!" I shouted, hoping she would hear me but as I got to her; it didn't look as if she could. I guess Scott had heard me or caught her scent because he showed up just as I did. "Why isn't she healed? What's wrong with her? Oh, God. Just when things were starting to get freaking normal!" Scott shouted in frustration and I rolled my eyes at him. "Let's just get her out of here and take her to Deaton, alright, buddy? He'll figure it out and we can discuss the matters of our far-from-normal lives on the drive there." He nodded in response and quickly scooped her up, carrying her out to my jeep.

I drove like Hell out of there as Erica lay securely in the back with Scott attempting to warm her up. She was still alive, we knew that much. Keeping her alive was the unknown as I drove to the Vet Hospital. "She's still not healing, Stiles. What do I do?!" Scott asked frantically. "Oh, I don't know…. Trigger the healing process? Break her arm or something." I suggested. "But I don't hit girls…" He protested and I groaned. "If it will keep her alive, I seriously think you should reconsider that rule!" I could tell he was by the way he looked in my rearview mirror, followed by the sound of bone breaking, then the sound of her gasp as she shot awake from the pain and decked Scott in the process. She panted heavily as she tried to make sense of everything as I pulled into the Vet's office and quickly parked, killing the engine. "What happened?! Where are we?!" She shouted as Scott recovered from her punch.

"Easy, girl. We found you in the woods and we're at the Vet to get you checked out and better, alright?" I explained calmly to her and she shook her head, shivering less and less. "N-no. I have to get to Derek. I have to tell him something important." She spoke and Scott looked at her. "Tell me and I'll go tell him, okay? You need to rest and get better." He said. Erica nodded and took a slow, deep breath. "There's another pack here…. They have Boyd." She started to well up as she remembered what happened. Scott reached out to touch her cheek lightly, "Are they the ones that did this to you?" She nodded. "I'll get Derek and we'll find out what's going on. Stiles, take her to my boss to get better." He commanded and was just about to leave before Erica spoke again. "Wait! There's something else you need to know…. They're not just a normal pack. They're a pack of Alphas." Both Scott's and my eyes had widened in surprise. "Alphas?! H-How is that even possible?!" Scott sped off to find Derek, obviously flustered. "Oh boy. We're in big trouble now…." I let out a soft sigh as I helped Erica out of my jeep and inside the office. Deaton came and helped me get her onto the table so that he could examine her.

"Well, these cuts and scratches will take a little while to heal fully because they were done by an Alpha. When an Alpha inflicts physical pain, it usually takes more time for the Beta to heal because of how much more powerful he or she is." Deaton spoke to the both of us. "I gave you something that should help ease the pain a little, but you should get some rest. I've got to go run a few errands but I'll be back in a bit. Stiles, I suggest you keep her company and watch this place in case something happens." I nodded and looked over to her as she sighed like she didn't want it to be me that was protecting her. "Right-O, doc. I got it covered." I saluted him before he left. "There's mountain ash surrounding you guys so she can't leave and nothing like her can get in just as a precautionary measure. Bye now." And with that, he left.


	2. Chapter 2

"You should probably get some sleep like he said. Do you need anything?" I asked her as I stood up. "Just some water, please." She sighed and lied back on the metal table, looking uncomfortable. I got her a cup of water like she asked and handed it to her as she sat up. "Here," I took off my jacket and folded it up into a makeshift pillow for her to rest her head on when she was finished drinking the water. Her wet clothes hanging just outside the door to dry as she was in some of Scott's dry spares that he kept around here. "Thanks." She smiled weakly as she watched me place my jacket-pillow where her head would go. I nodded and took the empty cup as she handed it over to me, tossing it to the trash. "Stiles?" I heard her say as I sat down in the chair against the wall. "Yeah?" I replied, looking over to her. She held out her hand for me and with a curious thought, I stared at it blankly. "I'm not going to kill you. God…" She coughed, rolling her eyes at my hesitancy. "Yeah, like I seriously trust you after you knocked me out with a part from my jeep." I countered, but took her hand anyway. She laced her fingers with mine and sighed contently. "About that…. I'm really sorry."

"Yeah, sure." I scoffed.

"No, seriously, I am. I was only following Derek's orders and I never wanted to hurt you…." Her voice cracked, causing me to believe her and go back to the day when she confessed her crush to me. Like an idiot, I wasn't really paying attention because of the water pouring out from the locker room and I honestly felt bad about not talking to her more about that. I guess now was a better chance than any….

"Is it about your supposed crush on me?" I raised an eyebrow and she nodded.

"You honestly had no idea, did you? Figures. You only have eyes for perfect Lydia Martin and her perfect everything that will never ever notice you in a million years." She mocked and I glared at her in return.

"She HAS noticed me as a matter of fact!" I rebutted.

"Please… She's just as oblivious to your feelings as you are of mine."

I froze, speechless because she was right.

"Exactly." She sighed, giving my hand a light squeeze. "You've never noticed me."

"Erica, I-"

"Just don't, Stiles. Don't apologize or make up some ridiculous story, just don't." Tears began to form.

I sighed and wiped her eyes with my thumb gently. "I wasn't going to do any of that, actually. I was just going to ask why you never bothered to talk to me or say anything before. Sure, I've seen you in class and in the hall, said 'Hi' to you occasionally, but you were always so distant and quiet. I let you borrow a pen when you needed one and yada, yada."

She just shook her head. "How could I? How could I even say a single word to you? My disease, my looks, my everything was nothing compared to Miss Perfect. I wanted so badly to ask you to tutor or study with me but I couldn't because I was too afraid of your rejection because I can't live up to the standards of Lydia freakin' Martin!" She growled as rage started to build up inside of her. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Calm down there, she-wolf." I squeezed her hand lovingly and considered kissing it when she started to relax again.

She just shook her head. "How could I? How could I even say a single word to you? My disease, my looks, my everything was nothing compared to Miss Perfect. I wanted so badly to ask you to tutor or study with me but I couldn't because I was too afraid of your rejection because I can't live up to the standards of Lydia freakin' Martin!" She growled as rage started to build up inside of her; eyes golden, canines growing, hair sprouting. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Calm down there, she-wolf." I squeezed her hand lovingly and considered kissing it when she started to relax again, sighing in relief when she returned to normal; like I was the Allison to her Scott or something. My mind flashbacked to the day in Econ when Coach was yelling at Scott for not doing his homework; Allison held his hand and he started to calm down and not shift.

Erica let out a soft sigh as I massaged the back of her hand gently. "I'm just going to go to sleep. Try not to get us killed, kay?" she said sarcastically as she relaxed more and closed her eyes. "I'll fetch you a nice bowl of water for when you wake up then, princess." I glared, she scoffed, I looked away from her, and she fell asleep. You know, Erica wasn't always bad or like this. I don't know why she's like this now. The bite didn't change Scott's personality at all but with blondie over here, the personality just did a 180 for whatever reason.

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-Flashback-

I remember the day we first met, actually. We were about 5 years old at Beacon Hills Park near the preserve; I was playing with Scott at the jungle gym and Erica was alone in the sandbox because nobody liked her. All the kids said she was sick and if you went near her, you'd get even sicker than her and die a slow, painful, death. That's when my mom called me over. She was sick too…. With Leukemia, but she was fighting through like the heroine she was. Anyway, I quickly went over to her. "Yeah, mom?" I asked. "Do you see that little girl over there, sweetie? The one with the blonde hair?" She replied. I took a quick glance before facing her again. "Mhm. Why?" I tilted my head curiously as Scott watched and waited for me on the teeter totter.

"I want you to go play with her, okay?"

"But, mom!" I protested. "She's so weird and I don't wanna die by her disease!"

My mother's expression went from sweet as honey to stung by the bee in an instant by what I had just said. My stomach fell to the ground and dug a hole to the center of the Earth and kept going. It was as if I was talking about my mother's disease instead of Erica's and I knew what I did wrong.

"I'm sorry…." I frowned.

She shook her head and just looked away from me, trying to fight back tears as she remembered that I was just a child. "It's fine, baby. Just go play with Scott and forget I said anything."

I didn't want to make it worse so I shut my trap, nodded, and went to grab Scott; reluctantly bringing him over to the sandbox that Erica sat in by herself. My eyes went over to my mother who smiled and threw me a thumbs up. I grinned knowing that I made her feel better and would do anything to make her happy. Even if it meant losing whatever social status I had in kid land. Erica's blonde hair was long, bushy, messed up in a pony tail while she piled sand into a bucket and built herself a sandcastle. Her head raised as she saw our shadows approaching. "Hi," I smiled and waved to her as Scott stood there with a fake smile, trying to look friendly for moral support. "I'm Stiles and this is my best friend Scott!" I introduced us and Scott just waved with a small cough. "Hi." He muttered and her face just lit up with excitement from having two people walk up to her and want to talk to _her_ for a once in a lifetime opportunity. "I'm Erica!" She said a little too loudly.

"Can we play in the sand with you?" I asked.

She nodded. "Sure!"

I grinned and look to Scott with a shrug as he took a whiff of his inhaler. He looked and shrugged back to me before we both sat down. After that, we became like the Three Musketeers. The social outcasts of Beacon Hills Preschool.


	3. Chapter 3

-Present-

Back to present day supernatural Beacon Hills Veterinary Hospital, Erica was finally starting to wake up and I hadn't realized it, but I was staring at her the whole time. She jumped a bit in shock and gripped her chest, panting heavily. "God, Stiles! You scared the Hell out of me!" She shouted. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Jeez…" I replied and she sighed. "Why were you looking at me like that?" She asked, "Like you cared about me?" Her eyebrow lifted and I shrugged my shoulders. "I honestly have no idea what you're talking about with the look, but I definitely do care about you. I care about everybody, minus Jackson, but yeah. Just about everybody."

"Alright."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Erica…."

"It's just that you looked like you were thinking about something. You have this face that you make when you think about things, it's cu- It's ridiculous." She said.

"I was thinking about something, actually. About how much nicer you were than now." I scoffed.

She just rolled her eyes. "Oh, do tell."

"I was just thinking about the park and how we met and how everything is so different and so much more out of control right now." I sighed.

She showed a hint of a smile and very softly chuckled. "I remember that day. We made a sandcastle together."

"King Arthur himself couldn't have done a better job." I smirked. Then we just looked at each other and started laughing.

"Remember the time when we went to the beach and buried Scott up to his head in the sand?" She asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"Because that was the last and greatest day we all had together before you and Scott stopped being friends with me…." She looked away, fighting back tears.

My gaze fell down to the floor as I remembered the reason why. My mom died in the hospital a few days later.

"I've been trying to figure out why you guys did ever since and I have no idea if I did or said anything wrong. All I know is that I tried to be there when you're mom died and you just shut me out like some stranger. Like the past 5 years meant absolutely nothing to you!" She started to cry as she shouted. "I was in love with you! Why?!"

I cut her short and stood up. "Because you remind me of HER! That's why…. Because you remind me so freakin' much of my mother and all that did was kill me because I knew she was gone and never coming back. Every little thing about you just reminded me that she was the reason that we became friends. I would have panic attacks every single time I thought about it so I stopped talking to you to make the pain go away." Tears streamed down my face now as I just stood there and watched her speechless expression.


End file.
